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19 January 2012

The Story of His Life

Posted by
Joseph Andrews

Photo found on MySpace. Click for (not much) more information.

The Associated Press has reported that Burt Bacharach will pen his memoirs, to be published by HarperCollins this November, and--no--it won't be called The Story of My Life. Because it's in the works, I'll post a wish-list of topics that Bacharach and his co-writer Robert Greenfield could address.

Did Burt ever compose any songs for Dietrich? If so, did she ever perform or record them? With that in mind, someone remind me whether Dietrich ever performed any Bacharach songs.

Well, that was brief, but it's been on my mind for a while. If Cher and Cilla Black got carte blanche to butcher Burt's tunes, Dietrich could have taken a stab at them as well. Bacharach appeared in that Dietrich hagiography attributed to Charlotte Chandler as well as in J. David Riva's documentary, Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song, but I hope to read some new tidbit in Burt's own book. What would you like to know?

.Should be an interesting read about Marlene but I cant imagine him being anything but very nice about her.I cant imagine he will turn into Burt the dirt.I have just bought and read in one sitting Good afternoon Miss Dietrich by Michael Brown.Dont know what to make of it really.It is neither full of gossip,nor that illuminating,and he makes silly mistakes calling the swansdown coat "fur" when he was quite clearly quite close to it.He also describes the dress as having a slit up the side showing a flash of leg.I saw her many times on three different occaisions and the dress never had a split in it.What do you all think of this odd little book?an interesting read but that is all,it all seemed very repetative to me.Paul

Burt doesn't have to be gossipy, but I do hope for something new or surprising (e.g. Dionne's memoirs)--not a rehash of that spitting German girl story. That's why I appreciated Dietrich's attitude in the Schell documentary, which would have illuminated little had Dietrich agreeably provided vapid sound bytes by repeating anecdotes from her memoirs. As for that Michael Brown book, I've never read it but would like to know more about it. Did it incorporate a lot of dialogue? If so, did it sound like Dietrich? I've recently read two Dietrich "apocrypha"--those books by Eryk Hanut and Dean Goodman--and planned on posting an entry to compare them.

A little late perhaps , but just spotted your question Joseph .I have 4 other photos like this one . All with Burt Bacharach on the left . But on the right is sitting another woman , cut off in yours ! It's HERTHA KOCH from Graz . She wrote the lyrics for the song " In den Kasernen ". These photos were taken in London , where they recorded the song . And later Frau Koch visited Marlene in Edinburgh where she sang her song .

Hey, it's never too late to comment. I check everything.;) Thanks for updating me on this, and what a shame Hertha was excised. I saw a clip of her on YouTube reciting the lyrics of that song. She seemed/seems like such a romantic the way Dietrich was.

Thanks for posting the link on YouTube about this song and Hertha Koch . I have an article about her from 24.12.1991 in which she complains deeply about her copyrights selling it for 100.000 Shilling . Back in '91 she lived under extremely poor circumstances . No idea if she is even alive today ? Anyway , I still think " In den Kasernen " was the best answer to " Sag' mir wo die Blumen sind " as an anti-war song for Dietrich . Do you agree on this ?

Oh, yes! Both songs use repetitive verses to deal with the fatal cycle of war. "In den Kasernen" addresses more directly the violence in warfare, though, and its musical arrangements also create a more foreboding mood. In my opinion, if someone were to pay a tribute to Dietrich, they should sing "Qui peut dire ou vont les fleurs?" (yes, the French lyrics) and "In den Kasernen" together because of the cross imagery ("Il est fait de tant de croix, le temps qui passe..." & "Kreuz unter Kreuzen, so enden sie...") in both.

By the way, I found out that Hertha did pass away but am not sure when. MDCB mentioned it in an old newsletter, which includes one of the photos that you've probably got.

Hertha Koch died Nov 1994, she was a great friend of mine..i have also the Orig Recordng from "in den Kasernen" from Hertha:Marlene colleted all the letters from Hertha. ( they are in the MDCB now , i get the copie )Hertha wrote "In den Kasernen" and another song" Trotz alledem " for Marlene "Trots alledem " was never realised her are the Orig Lyrics from "in the Kasernen2 written 1963 by Hertha Koch

Thank you for sharing the original lyrics! In this text, "und endet nie" throughout each verse emphasizes the never-ending nature of war more overtly. Is the original recording from Hertha with the music that Marlene didn't like?

By the way, you have an extraordinary YouTube channel, and you are very kind to share the rarities on it. Thank you for that, too.

Terry, I compulsively searched for that song after you mentioned it and realized that I had already heard it. In fact, I've probably played every video that Irene and missladiva have posted. I deeply appreciate them, and what archivefever123 commented on that clip was apropos.

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